Work crews remove Beauregard statue pedestal in front of City Park

NEW ORLEANS - Work crews have begun removing the pedestal at the entrance to City Park that once held a statue of Confederate general P.G.T. Beauregard.

The statue itself was removed in May of 2017, but the pedestal has remained in place.

“The pedestal has remained at the entrance to the Park for more than a year and has been vandalized with graffiti on more than one occasion,” City Park spokesman John Hopper said in a press release. “Consequently, the New Orleans City Park Improvement Association has decided to remove the pedestal.”

The pedestal will remain in storage alongside the removed statue until city officials determine where both should be stored permanently.

The traffic circle where the statue and pedestal once stood will be landscaped, according to Hopper.